Seneca Lake out of Watkins Glen 4/4 + 4/5
4/4: Guided Tony and his boys Dan and Jon for a full day on 4/4 and a slightly abbreviated 1/2 day today (4/5.) They’ve made the trip annually for what is the third year in a row. Tony is along for the ride and the boys handle most of the fishing. Salmon action left a bit to be desired for us on Thursday. Most people on the lake had some action – whether trolling, casting or fly-fishing. We had a lot of follows from some very nice fish on various lures but the boys weren’t able to close the deal. Tony took a few casts and wound up landing an 18″er. Last year Dan caught a 27″ beauty, so maybe he had to pay a few more dues. I’m not sure 😉
Lakers can pull hard and Tony wanted to wait on the jigging until he felt Jon could handle bringing a good one in himself. He’s around 12 years old now, so it was a good time to start. The boys really enjoyed the laker jigging and hooked a double on the first drop with the jigs. They each landed a laker and missed a few as well. Late day salmon fishing resulted in another chase or two but no cigar.
4/5: We went right for the laker jigging this AM (at 9) with strong north winds in the forecast. Northwesterlies are doable with the high hills sheltering the lake, but if the winds shift easterly it’s easy to get in trouble on this lake, especially when gusts hit the 30 mph range. Then the lake (and many other Finger Lakes) become(s)downright dangerous. There are good numbers of lakers around Watkins Glen now and young John did well landing two solid fish. A 26″er really pulled hard and it was all he could do to land the fish without getting tired. Lakers are capable of strong fights this time of year and into the early summer. Sometimes when they are tight to the thermocline late in summer and they get pulled into very warm water they lose energy fast.
The second fish was over 29″ long and fought well, but not as good as the first. We kept both and the bigger one was around 8lb 6oz. They are gorging on alewives, even though I’m not marking much bait. We tried some salmon casting but decided after a short while to end the trip due to the increasing wind gusts. Water temps range from 40 to 43. It’s still early in the season and the lake is still COLD!